Cider Is a Better Thanksgiving Beer (Even If It Isn't Technically a Beer)

Maybe you’re used to drinking beer or wine on Thanksgiving—a few cans of lager before the meal, some Merlot that Uncle Joe picked up from the supermarket with dinner—but it might be time to rethink all of those choices you thought were canon. Mattie Beason, the co-owner of Black Twig Cider House in Durham, North Carolina, goes exclusively for cider (yeah, big surprise) on Thanksgiving. Sure, he’s biased, but it’s a pairing that actually makes a lot of sense: cider brings acidity, which balances out all the gravy and mashed potatoes, and it’s about as easy-drinking as anything that comes in a bottle can be. Cider is also a perfect meeting point for beer and wine drinkers—a rare point of happy compromise at an often conflict-ridden holiday. Here, Beason explains how—and why—you should be adding a few bottles to your holiday spread.

I started bringing cider to the table at Thanksgiving about 10 years ago. Previously, I always brought wine—whatever was that year’s fad for what we should be drinking with Thanksgiving. One year Tavel, the next Beaujolais, then dry Riesling, then Beaujolais again. These wines were all good with something on the table but none of them spanned the entire table from turkey to sweet potatoes to green beans. At first, my family, who takes Thanksgiving very seriously, thought I was crazy for bringing cider— but we now have a wine-free Thanksgiving and cider is the only beverage on the table.

The misconception of cider lies in what we’ve seen in grocery stores for the last 20 years. It’s only recently that cider has started to change. We are starting to see more regional ciders that are crispier and less sweet. Those ciders are amazingly refreshing—with less residual sugar and considerably less of the cotton candy-Jolly Rancher flavors you may have unfortunately witnessed. Regional ciders are concentrating on bringing back the traditional beverage of the 19th century without any unnatural flavoring added.

The beautiful thing about cider is that even if you pair one cider with each individual dish, you’ll still end up with a variation that pairs perfectly with the rest if your plate. No train wrecks, as I like to call them, meaning nothing that pairs badly on the plate if I were to pair everything on the plate with an individual cider. One brand will suffice, but more options just make your meal more interesting.

A quick guide to picking cider for your Thanksgiving table:

For the bird:For things like turkey, Eric Bordelet’s Sidre Brut from France or Oliver's ciders from the U.K. pair effortlessly. Bordelet is one of the best cider makers in the world. His Sidre Brut has a little residual sugar—which I describe as fruity rather than sweet. That little bit of fruit brings out all the flavor in what can be a pretty bland bird. Oliver’s also offers a little less sugar and is a fantastic complement to turkey.

For the sides:For veggies and sides, I would choose a bone-dry cider which is easier to find in regional, domestic variations. In my region, flagship cider from any number of cideries like Noble Cider, Urban Orchard Cider Company, James Creek Ciderhouse or Bull City Ciderworks work well. On the West Coast, seek out Stem Ciders, Schilling Cider, or 101 Cider House. The high acids in these ciders help to cleanse the palate and make every bite a new journey—this is one of my favorite things about cider over any other beverage, as most other beverages cloud your palate and make the next but more jumbled. Cider, on the other hand, cleanses the palate and makes every bite new.

For dessert:There are two ways to go from here; one way would be to choose an apple cider port or ice cider—essentially fortified wine. The Pippin Gold from Foggy Ridge Cider or an heirloom blend from Eden Ciders. Viscosity is the name of the game here—rich and flavorful is what I'm looking for in a dessert cider.

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